Med-ic™ electronic compliance monitor (ECM) tags are utilized primarily in the pharmaceutical industry in close association with blister packaging of medical items, such as pills or capsules. The pills or capsules are retaining within individual housings of a blister pack, the housings also including a frangible backing sheet through which the pills can be pushed individually as required. Such blister packages are well known. The Med-ic™ ECM tag takes the blister package art a step further in that it provides for electronic traces on the back of the blister package, which traces are ruptured when the contents of the housing pass through the backing sheet. Since the traces are connected electrically to an integrated chip carried by the blister package, information resulting from the rupturing of a trace is available for utilization. In particular, the time and location of the rupturing of a trace can be recorded on the chip for later interpretation by an interested party, such as a physician or a researcher who wishes to determine the time that a pill was taken. This can be very important if the patient is involved in clinical studies or if a tight regimen of medication is required for the treatment of a particular illness. The information accumulated in the chip is downloadable either electronically through connection to a reader, or wirelessly through an appropriate transmitter included as part of the chip.
There are many other details associated with the above-discussed concept, many of which are set forth in other patent applications of the applicant herein. However, it is also important that the various components associated with the Med-ic™ ECM tag be manufactured to a high degree of tolerance, quality and performance. The steps involved in the manufacture of such tags are detailed herein.